Sunday, October 20, 2013

Kip
Zegers proffers, in his modest but compelling book of poems entitled The Poet
of the Schools, pedagogical revelations of a very high order. His pieces eschew
the standard slice- of- life fare for deeper, more psychologically based
insights into teacher-student relationships. Some of these insights appear
momentary, a chance perception, a fleeting acuity; others continuously draw you
in to a nexus of awareness and sensitivity. But, be warned, this is not the Stand
and Deliver world of Jaime Escalante with its optimistic logic and neat packet
of inspiration. Rather, Zegers inspires by recording the little miracles which
happen along the way during and sometimes in spite of the educational process. Apparently, this high school teacher of 29
years reinvents himself each September to match his students’ needs. Zegers
aptly titles the first section of his book Busy Being New. He means it.

From
the collection’s opening poem, The Pond in Room 318 Zegers makes it clear where
he’s going—fishing. He brings poetry as bait. He tries to hook those students
with that spark of curiosity that every good teacher looks for, indeed, craves.
This is how the poem begins,

In
that room, Fall was a green surprise.

Entering
class was paddling out

on
a windy surface. I’d brought

a
rod and reel and thought I had the perfect

poems
to fish with. I lost them the first day,

but
new tools rose to hand, proving

or
disproving themselves by use.

Life
in that room obeyed laws.

Not
only do schools seem to have their own natural laws, they also have their own
seasons. Autumn is the spring, the planting season Winter for growing, Spring
the harvest time, and Summer, a time of emptiness. The poet puts it this way,

Fall
is its fresh beginning, winter

Its
abundance, spring the harvest,

And
summer an empty field

The
children are leaving…

If
this sounds a bit like Peter Sellers’ Chauncey Gardiner in the movie Being
There so be it, but it is a pretty cool metaphor nonetheless.

The
poem Listening In begins with an extraordinary scene. The teacher takes a book
, a fantasy novel, from his student. The student reacts with an autistic
tantrum. The poem goes on detailing one after the other telling moments of
student-speak. Here’s one,

…the
8th grade girl

took
perfect notes, kept one hand in the air,

and
narrowed her eyes when I faltered: class

should
be a certain way, a placefor “A’s,”

but
her poem saw a homeless man buy

hot
milk tea, a shop where broken hands

hold
warmth. Then the year ended,

and
she doubled back, “I was hoping…

I
would not be forgotten.”

Reverse
engineering, a concept not usually associated with educational theory, let
alone poetic manifestations of teenagers finding their own voice, proves the
perfect metaphor in Zegers’ short poem entitled Krazy Kitchen. The poet says,

Off
with their lids! After a time

what’s
inside the open jars turns green, fuzzy,

and
it’s not mold, it’s apples

budding
from applesauce, grapes

rising
from jelly to the vine. This kitchen

has
worried windows, no recipes,

and
a stove whose pilot light

is
difficult…

Personal
involvement with students weighs heavily on some teachers—the good ones. Zeigers
speaks to this burden in the poem called The Poet Of Schools Is Worried. The
piece begins with him riding the “1” train down the Bronx. Observing the
cityscape he notes the grinding process directed against those innocent souls
who shine with awareness or who have found their voice. The poet continues,

…To
his right he can see red jeans,

a
blue bag, to his left an olive sweatshirt,

and
in his head, hears day old voices, “7 hours

sleep,”
in a boy’s voice, “that’s over 3 nights.”

“Coming
back to school has begun to seem

pointless,”
one girl said. And now,

worry
has arrived in this, the poem.

In
the poem Some Kingdoms Zegers takes a shot at politicians and their seemingly
endless attempts at public education reform. He says,

…politicians,
squirt guns filled

with
money, axes swung from high offices,

smash
things they do not understand.

The
poet of Schools marks his territory,

And
waits.

Later
in the same poem he has a lovely subtle section on both the commonality of
students and their ultimate individuality. Here are the lines,

Behind
the dunes of Jersey, a field

of
swallows. Thousands upon thousands

bend
branches, thicken bushes, and

some
few rise, ready to start south.

It
is not time; they settle, wait.

That
these have thought it over

is
not why they’ve arrived. That all

will
survive is not why they take flight.

Each
lives the species whole. Back

for
a second look, he finds a field,

its
empty air still pulsing.

The
third and final section of the book Zegers entitles The Kenny Poems. The
protagonist, Kenny, goes to a parochial school, circa 1960, 1970 or thereabout.
The culture encompasses good helpings of cruelty, sadism, effective rote
teaching, with an overlay of religious confrontations. That was my experience.
A priest-brute arrives to confront the barbarian children in the second poem of
the series. The sermon given describes a geographical hell with some memorable
images. The priest elaborates,

…”Sin
ends in hell,

and
you boys, you think you know?

Imagine
soft skin on a grill, your white

skin
burning but you can’t move, you boys

all
know what a single match feels like,

but
in hell, when you scream, Satan laughs,

puts
his fork in you and turns you over. Mmm?

I
definitely remember that sermon.

Throughout
the collection Zegers’ sense of wonder strikes you as the perfect counterpoint
to a student’s grappling with language and searching for his own voice. I’ve
heard many of these same themes in prose, but without the intensity. The Poet
of the Schools deserves to be read and read widely.

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Last Night at the Wursthaus by Doug Holder

Michael Casey ( Winner of the Yale Younger Poetry Prize--"Obscenities") "This book is a wonderful and entertaining read. It is maybe ten years since I read a book so good that I wished it had more pages. I hope the author is working on a sequel." Neil Silberblatt (Founder of Voices of Poetry) writes, " These poems work for anyone with the gift and curse of memory..." To order click on picture.

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Portrait of an Artist as a Young Poseur : 1974 to 1983 by Doug Holder

(To order click on picture) “Doug Holder is a poet of the old city, the city of our fathers, of the 1950s and later. Mr. Holder writes poems like notes in a diary. I found myself struck by their economy, wit, and urban melancholy... He has a voice unlike that of any of his contemporaries. Holder is a poet of the street and coffeehouses, an observer of the everyday. He writes of old Marxists, security guards and his relationship to his deceased father—themes of the common life. I am drawn to these poems as I am to the poetry of Philip Levine and the prose of James T. Farrell. But Holder’s poetry is deeper than that. He sees the world not for what it is, but on his own terms. He is living in the poem rather than in poetry.” ~ Sam Cornish, First Boston Poet Laureate

Portrait of An Artist as a Young Poseur by Doug Holder (Order on paypal.com)

OH Don't ,She Said..a poem/song project

( Preview and Purchase--click on pic) Oh Don’t, She Said ~ by Jennifer Matthews. Jennifer wrote this song after her friend and notable poet, Doug Holder, showed her his poem: “Oh don’t, she said, it’s cold.” After reading it, Jennifer felt inspired and heard a song in it. She had to change some of the words to make it work lyrically with the music, but she made sure to stay close to the original poem as much as possible. Jennifer played all the instruments on it and engineered it. It was mixed by Phil Greene at Normandy Sound, who worked with the likes of Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and many, many other noted artists. Doug wrote it after a conversation he had with his mother while riding on a train to New York City. It is dedicated to her, Rita Holder. Genre: Rock: Acoustic Release Date: 2014

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So Spoke Penelope by Tino Villanueva

(Click on picture to order now!) "An intense poetic hovering over a situation of prolonged expectation....The poems in SO SPOKE PENELOPE are simply amazing, whether in the form of an apostrophe to the absent Odysseus or to the Gods, whether in a narrative past-tense mode or in the immediacy of the lived present, whether in the staccato of monosyllables or in the exuberance of unusual compounds, whether they employ Greek-feeling pentameter lines, alliteration, or anaphora. This poetic cycle shows that the whole range of human experience is contained in Penelope of Ithaca."—Werner Sollors

Visitors from around the country and world...( Click on real time view for complete list)

New From Muddy River Books: Eating Grief at 3AM" by Doug Holder

(To order click on picture) “There is a sad, sweet nostalgia in Holder’s Eating Grief at 3 AM, a sense of loss and sadness for the places and the people who were a part of those scenes: the hunchback, the Tennessee Williams’ half lost blondes, the turbaned men and the discarded move nostalgically through life. Yet Holder finds something almost like beauty or knowledge in the abandoned warehouses with weeds crawling to the roof. He imagines when Mrs. Plant, an old art teacher, was an enigmatic young woman ‘feverishly taking notes about the paintings, a love note stuffed in a pocket of her winter coat.’ There are always dreams, even if never fulfilled. There is so often the sense of time passing, of letting go-- letting go of people, letting go of Harvard Square Theater and the Wursthaus, balms that seemed like they would always be there. And they are and always will be in Holder’s moving poems.” — Lyn Lifshin, Author of Cold Comfort (Black Sparrow Press) "

Elizabeth Lund Interviews Doug Holder-Founder of the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

(Click on Picture to order) "Starting with Allen Ginsberg and ending with Charlie Parker, Sam Cornish takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the livelier segments of 1950s and early ’60s American culture. With non-stop energy, syncopated rhythms, and a fast pace that keeps you humming as you turn the pages, Cornish visits a wide array of writers, musicians, and films, stopping along the way to visit local poetry scenes and pay tribute to the homeless and poor. Calling on Jack Kerouac, Langston Hughes, Marlon Brando, Miles Davis and a host of others, Cornish makes us feel the excitement of those times, even as he and his companions absorb the complex and often disturbing history of what he aptly calls “My Young America.” — Martha Collins

Read what people are saying about the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene

click on pic for more info..... (Eric Darton, (bestselling author of 'Divided We Stand: A Biography of The World Trade Center): ' "...a terrific publication..." Diane Lockward ( New Jersey Council of the Arts Fellow and publisher of Tarapin Books)--"You provide an invaluable service for poets." Rusty Barnes ( Night Train magazine) "Doug. I know your reviewers have made a difference to me and my work. Keep up the good work". J.L. Morin ( Lecturer at Boston University/ Library Review) "That's a lovely blog you've got there, Doug Holder." ( Sherill Tippins--"Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel.") " I love your introduction, and fervently hope that Somerville never meets anything like the Chelsea Hotel's fate. It's always a pleasure to read your blog -- even when I'm not in it!" Alan Kaufman ( Editor of the "Outlaw Bible of American Literature")-- " ...a terrific blog..." Perry Glasser--( Winner of the Gival Press Novel Award): " The blog is very impressive." Elizabeth Swados ( Tony Nominated Playwright, Guggenheim Award Winner ): "Thanks you so much for this review on your blog. It helps so much, not just in terms of getting people to know that it exists, but also makes me feel that someone has gotten what I have tried to do. I wish you the very best." Marguerite G. Bouvard, PhD-- Resident Scholar Women's Research Center-Brandeis University: " I love reading your blog. What a refreshing respite from the New York Times. Thanks for all you do for poetry." Ed Hamilton--author of "Legends of the Chelsea Hotel" commenting on Chelsea Hotel article: " That's a great piece. Thanks for sending the link along." Richard Moore-- Finalist/T.S.Eliot Prize " I have just read your wonderful interview of the wonderful Eric Greinke!" Steven Ford Brown (Former Director of Research for the George Plimpton Interview Series "The Writer in America"): " You did a great job with the Clayton Eshleman interview, especially the personal stuff. So much better than doing the dry talk about literary polemics." Celia Gilbert (Pushcart Prize in Poetry) "Doug thanks so much for that fine shout out. I'm delighted how you put it all together!" Karen Alkalay-Gut, PhD ( Professor of English-Tel Aviv University) "Doug, I enjoy your posts immensely" Lise Haines ( Writer-in-Residence, Emerson College-Boston) "I love your blog!" "( Elizabeth Searle- Executive Board/Pen New England) : "Like your blog. I like the interview with Rick Moody." Ploughshares Staff- " Everyone at Ploughshares is a big fan of your blog." Suzanne Wise (Publicity Director Poets House-NYC): "Thank you so much for this wonderfully thoughtful portrait of our new home! You really "get us" and you translate that understanding vividly. I love the way you talk about Stanley's ( Kunitz) giant dictionary as a relic from another age. We're glad to preserve such relics." Kathleen Bitetti ( Chief Curator Medicine Wheel Productions/ Former Director of the Artists Foundation--Boston.) " Love your interview with Marc Zegans...wonderful blog!"

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The Arts and Literature in Somerville, Mass.: Off the Shelf with Doug Holder

( Click on picture to go to column) A weekly column in The Somerville News--Somerville's only independent newspaper!

The Somerville News Writers Festival Nov. 13, 2010

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The Boston Globe: Poetic Healing at McLean Hospital

This was the lead article in the Living/Arts section of the Boston Globe. (Feb. 2000) It has to do with Doug Holder's poetry workshops at McLean Hospital and the history of this literary landmark. (Click on pic for full article)

(Click on picture to view) A Production of Somerville Community Access TV's show " Poet to Poet : Writer to Writer." Moderator: Gloria Mindock, Producer: Doug Holder, Director: Bill Barrell

"The Paris of New England" Interviews with Poets and Writers" by Doug Holder

( Click on pic to order this and other Ibbetson Press titles) Interviews with poets and writers from the Paris of New England Somerville, Mass. " Thank you for your interview book. I read it straight through last night and enjoyed it very much...So many good ideas in one book." Eric Greinke-- Presa Press "Very engrossing collection of Holder's interviews, with a wide range of writers about their lives and work. Included are Mike Basinski, Mark Doty, Robert Creeley, Ed Sanders, Hugh Fox, Robert K. Johnson, and Pagan Kennedy.-- Chiron Review

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Reach a wide swath of the Boston Area literary community through The Somerville News' "Off the Shelf" literary Column with Doug Holder. The column is online and in a weekly print edition that reaches 15,000 readers. For more information click on picture.

Grolier Poetry Book Shop

" Poetry is honored every day at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, the oldest continuous poetry book shop in the United States. We stock over 15,000 volumes and spoken word CD's. Special orders are welcome. Come and visit us at 6 Plympton St. or online http://grolierpoetrybookshop.org (click on picture)

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Poetry Workshops With Doug Holder

( Click on Picture for Doug Holder's website) Doug Holder has led poetry workshops, both for indviduals and groups for a decade now. Robert Olen Butler ( Pulitzer Prize Winner for Literature) wrote of Holder's work: " I've been greatly enjoying your poems. You have a major league talent, man." Available for individual or groups. Expert in gently helping the novice into poetry and the poetry scene. Reasonable Rates. Available for editing. Call 617-628-2313 for more information. Or email: dougholder@post.harvard.edu

Ibbetson Street Press

No One Dies at the Au Bon Pain by Doug Holder

Poems of Boston and Just Beyond: From The Back Bay to the Back Ward by Doug Holder

A poetry collection that deals with Boston, and Holder's experiences working on the psychiatric units at McLean Hospital

Of All the Meals I Had Before by Doug Holder

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The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel (To order click on picture)

A new poetry book by Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene Founder, Doug Holder. "I'm enjoying 'The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel' -- perfect poems, especially in that ambiance." Dan Tobin -- Director of Creative Writing--Emerson College-Boston, Mass./ " It is quintessential Holder& bristles with sardonic wit. Congratulations."-- Eric Grienke (founder of Presa Press) / " I finished "The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel'...greatly enjoyed the menagerie of characters and imperfect human beings I met along the way. Excellent work Doug!"-- Paul Steve Stone ( Creative Director W.B.Mason and the autthor of "Or So It Seems.") / "I am reminded in the pages of this collection of meeting, a year or two before her death, the artist Alice Neel, who painted gorgeously surreal ironic portraits of famous and ordinary people in the 1930's and 40's--and shivering as she looked me over. Doug Holder looks at the world through a similarly sharp and amused set of eyes...Rich nuggets of humor and wry reflection throughout this collection." Pamela Annas ( Asst. Dean of Humanities U/Mass Boston/Reviewer Midwest Book Review) “....particularly liked The Tunnel—a little masterpiece!” Kathleen Spivack ( Permanent Visiting Professor of Creative Writing/American Literature at the University of Paris) "I want to tell you this was just about the best chap I ever read, I absolutely DEVORED it..."--( Robin Stratton--Boston Literary Magazine) "An acclaimed Boston-area poet writes about characters who have captured his interest over the years -- a colonial dame with purple hair, a postal worker ready to be returned to his sender, J. Edgar Hoover's secret love -- in this skillfull collection of short, free form poems." (Perkins School of the Blind Website) Click on picture to access Cervena Barva Press

About Me

Doug Holder is the founder of the independent literary press Ibbetson Street. He teaches writing at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and Endicott College in Beverly, Mass. He is the arts/editor of The Somerville News, and for the past twenty years has run poetry groups at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. His poetry and prose have appeared in the Bay State Banner, The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Magazine, Rattle, Endicott Review, Long Island Quarterly, Toronto Quarterly and many others. He holds an M.A. in Literature from Harvard University.

Poems From The Left Bank: Somerville, Mass. by Doug Holder

( Click on picture to order) "The poems are full of life, witty and sympathetic and sharp all at once. And most of all, full of an engaged affection for the place and people. If Burns is Scotland's Bard, you are certainly Somerville's..." Kate Chadbourne, PhD ( Lecturer-Harvard University-Celtic Languages and Literature)

From The Paris of New England: Interviews with Poets and Writers" by Doug Holder

(Click on picture to order) Interviews by Doug Holder from the Paris of New England: Somerville, Mass. "I am impressed. A lot of great interviews compiled over the years."-- Brian Morrisey--Poesy Magazine / " A very engrossing read..."--Chiron Review / "Doug Holder knows how to ask important questions"--New Pages

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Doug Holder founder says: "Reach a wide audience of poets, writers, editors and publishers, Have your ad linked to your site. The Boston area Small Press and Poetry Scene is well known in the small press community..." For information about rates, etc...email: dougholder@post.harvard.edu or call 617-628-2313